It’s official, the leaves are starting to change colours on all the country roads near my house, which means I am in my element. Time to throw on all the plaids, checks and tartans I can find, autumn is truly on its way.
Others may be thinking of Halloween, but as I’m not a lover of that holiday I’m already thinking ahead to Christmas. It’s one of my favourite times of the year, mostly for the excuse to spend extra time with loved ones…and if I get to do that while donning a fancy frock? Well whadayaknow, that’s two of my favourite things! So it might be too early for talk of the festive C-word for many of you, but I can’t help but bring it up when looking at today’s dress, because it certainly counts as a fancy frock, and some of you might even like it as a Christmas Day contender.
I think one of the things that people regularly struggle with when it comes to clothing is not being certain which colours best suit them. In a way it doesn’t really matter, because if you love something enough to feel good wearing it then that is the only thing that matters. But for the less confident, knowing a cut and a colour brings out their best features makes all the difference. An easy thing to remember, then, is that jewel tones look good on literally every skin colour, as their richness flatters against both pale and dark tones. As such, emerald green is good on everyone, so today’s featured dress is ready to stun for all.
I love getting to try new-to-me brands here on the blog, especially when they’re small businesses, so I’m thrilled today to introduce Weekend Doll to my little corner of the internet. Weekend Doll have been on the scene for almost a decade as a stockist of independent vintage-inspired brands, but this year they launched their own line! I adore when small businesses take the leap into producing their own pieces but even more so when they are dedicated to producing it at home here in the U.K., as Weekend Doll is. That decision is a result of not only wanting to support the British manufacturing industry but also as a conscious effort to reduce their environmental impact by limiting the travel their wares must undertake in order to be ready for sale. With all of those things in mind, I was certainly very excited to try my first Weekend Doll outfit.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Halloween—it’s time for Miss Candyfloss’s autumn/winter line! The release of Miss C’s new range each season is always exciting for me as they are unquestionably my favourite brand, but their autumn/winter ranges are most especially my favourite, because if anyone understands the specific vintage aesthetic of my heart it’s Miss Candyfloss. Their silhouettes are always stunning, their colour palette exquisite, the design choices chic, and the quality top notch. The inspiration behind this season’s line is Pierre Balmain’s New Look era of the 40s and 50s so it is–a surprise to no-one– absolutely gorgeous. The Isolde-Sun is my first piece from this season, a favourite among many favourites that stunned me from their Lookbook, and I’m thrilled to share it with you today.
I’m always honest here on the blog, there would be no point in offering you size and fit reviews if I wasn’t, but I’m about to be honest in a way that’s probably going to upset some of you: I don’t like Halloween. I actually kind of…hate it. Yeah, I know. But spiders? Hate them. Bats? Sure, I get that they are kinda like cute winged puppies in stasis, but in motion I would not want one of those suckers flying anywhere near my person and my easily-tangled hair. Pumpkins? I think the only acceptable shade of orange is rust, otherwise it’s ugly AF, so a tasteless bumpy vegetable that is glaringly orange obviously will not win me over. Spooky things? Nah, I don’t like being scared or anything close to it; I think people who enjoy being spooked must have evolved from the hunters of our species. My over-cautious, risk-adverse brain, contrarily, definitely evolved from a long line of quiet clan members who volunteered during each hunt to stay in the cave to count out what remains of the firewood stack.
Halloween is not for me and it’s aesthetic kind of grates on my visual nerves. Sorry not sorry. Big time shrug emoji, y’all.
Why is this relevant, I hear many of you mumbling to yourselves through gritted teeth and memeified clenched Arthur fists? Your slimy green blood is boiling, you’re trying hard resist the urge to smash your new ‘ghoulfriends’ mug on the floor in slighted rage. Well, it’s relevant because I know for many of you this dress is automatically a hALloWeEn dReSs, and because it is very Beetlejuice I must concede the fact that, yes, it really is a very good Halloween dress. But it is also just a black and white dress, and that monochromatic style-tabula rasa is something I am much more here for.
Back in my pre-pinup days I wore short skirts, had a large mane of small natural curls, and hated leopard print. Even for many years after adopting vintage fashion I hated leopard print, actually, which makes it even weirder that my first ever vintage-inspired dress which convinced me I could adopt this style for real was fully red leopard print. It had a sweetheart neckline, black straps, a full circle skirt, and I was madly in love with it. It was a very tight fit at the time and I gained back some weight shortly after I wore it to a friend’s charity event, so I never managed to squeeze into it again, but I kept it for a long time out of love before I finally sold it on so someone else could love it instead.
Over the course of the following few years my opinion on leopard print evolved to a much broader love and now it’s one of my favourite prints (when done right…some of my boundaries remain.) But I still have a special fondness for red leopard print in particular, because it feels so tied to a key turning point in my life. So this Lynette dress, to me, is like wearing a lovely reminiscence…
Autumn is definitely on its way now, which means it’s time for me to start accessorising everything with every shade of brown possible. It’s dying leaves time, snitches!
One of the things I most love in clothing is when designers play with textures. Layering different materials to achieve a multi-textured effect is pretty easy to do with your styling choices, but when a dress already offers something texturally interesting you’re already halfway there. And this Tess dress definitely offers!
I love liquid lipsticks, so I can never resist trying a new release from drugstore brands just in case they are somehow better or on par with my absolute favourite lipstick, the Maybelline Superstay Matte Ink. Recently I saw a couple of beauty influencers trying this new ColorStay Satin Ink liquid lip by Revlon over on Instagram, so of course I immediately hopped online and bought the 2 shades that seemed to most reflect my usual colour preferences.
The shade range for this lipstick is quite small, at least here in the UK, with just 6 shades available. Judging by the online photos and the colour of the packaging, I thought On a Mission was going to be a rich red and Silky Sienna was going to be a warm pink. Both shades are not accurately reflected by their packaging, which does not display a clear window looking into the formula itself but instead opaque plastic coloured inserts that Revlon have chosen to (inaccurately, in my opinion) reflect the shades. You can see this yourself with my picture above showing On A Mission on my lips and it’s packaging displayed in my hand. Still, that issue aside, I was excited to try the lipstick. Let’s look at how it performs. Continue reading
